Nineteen
Skyliners (Lila Wright, Daisy Williams, John MacInerney, Linda Tovar,
Miriam Sterling, Anita Jackson, Dolly Yapp, Kwi Johnson, Connie
Woolard, Marvin Alt, George Everman, Bill Woolard, Colleen
Maktenieks, Donna Goodman, Jim Manning, the author and three others)
hiked near Dry Beaver Creek on 05 February 2011. Leaving the
assembly area at the Cottonwood Safeway, we drove north on Hwy 89A,
turned right on Cornville Road, proceeded through Cornville and
turned left at the borrow pit just 2.3 miles past the Beaverhead Flat
Road intersection. We had some discussion about the meaning of the
term “borrow pit” and I looked it up:
A
borrow
pit,
also known as a sand box, is a term used in construction and civil
engineering. It describes an area where material (usually soil,
gravel or sand) has been dug for use at another location.
Borrow pits can be found close to many major construction projects.
For example, soil might be excavated to fill an embankment for a
highway, clay might be excavated for use in brick-making, gravel to
be used for making concrete, etc.1
Parking
our car at the pit, we struck out on FR 9203T, a road that runs along
Dry Beaver Creek. About eighty yards ahead we crossed a dry wash
that appeared to also serve as a road. Looking at a map later, it
appears that it indeed does serve as a road and that we could have
turned up the wash and reconnected with the road we were following
after about three tenths of a mile. After another two tenths of a
mile (about a half mile from the parking area) we came to a fork in
the road and continued straight ahead to cross Dry Beaver Creek and
hike up the other side. Ignoring other possible turnoffs from the
road we were on, we continued straight ahead and reached the dry
creek bed after another two tenths of a mile (around seven tenths of
a mile from our starting point).
Uncaring
people have created a mini-dump alongside the creek where we were to
cross over. We found several discarded monitors and other assorted
trash that irresponsible persons had abandoned and then apparently
used for target practice.
As
we crossed the otherwise dry creek, we did see a shimmering pool of
water several yards upstream, indicating that water had been flowing
in the recent past. And then further upstream, we came to a larger
pool of water near a bend in the streambed. Upstream from there,
water was flowing; downstream the creek was dry.
 |
Glimmering pool of water at a creek bend – below here the streambed is dry
|
We
were now heading north on the east side of the creek, which at this
point flows almost directly south, but soon turns so that we would be
traveling upstream in an easterly direction. After traveling about
three-tenths of a mile along the east bank of the mostly dry
streambed we came to an almost ninety degree bend, so that the
upstream direction was now to the east. From the bend as far as we
went upstream there was water in the stream. We crossed over here to
continue upstream along the north side of the generally west flowing
stream.
As
we continued in a generally east (slightly north) direction, the
creek, now at times some two tenths of a mile to the south of our
track, turned again so that it was now flowing from the north for a
short distance, and we crossed it again about 1.1 miles from the bend
where we had first crossed at the bend.
 |
Below the bend – the streambed is dry
|
 |
Water covers the bed upstream
|
After
crossing the creek again we traveled generally north parallel to the
creek and then climbed sharply to the top of a hill. From there we
could see that Dry Beaver Creek curved back around the promontory we
were standing on and once again was flowing from east to west. We
followed the spine of the ridge diverging slightly from the path of
the stream and climbed higher until we were almost two hundred feet
above the point where we had last crossed the creek.
Our
track from the borrow point to this point is shown on the attached
map in red. Since we returned by a slightly different path, I have
shown the return in yellow. The view from the ridge was quite good;
we could see the Red Rock Country to the north, House Mountain to the
northwest and Mingus Mountain almost directly west.
 |
Looking toward Red Rock Country to the north
|
 |
House Mountain to the northwest
|
 |
Mingus Mountain in the distance to the west
|
On
our way to the top of the ridge we had noted a trail snaking up the
slope of the next hill south of us, and then saw a group of riders
following it. This trail appeared to lead back toward our last
crossing of the creek and we decided to take it back to there. It
turned out to be an excellent trail, a much easier route back down to
the creek. We stopped for lunch at the crossing before continuing
our journey
After
lunch we continued back down the creek, retracing the route we had
followed on the way up until we arrived at the bend where the creek
turned to flow directly south and where we had taken the group
picture. From that point we followed a road paralleling the creek on
the west side of the creek rather than crossing back over to go back
down the east side.
Somewhere
along the way Colleen had collected a piece of driftwood and stuck it
in her pack for the trip home. Seeing a great opportunity one of the
other hikers sneaked up behind her and suspended a beer can from her
prize.
 |
Colleen brought an extra ration of beer in case of extreme thirst
- see it hanging on her left antler.
|
The
total distance of the hike was 5.5 miles, according to my GPS track,
and the difference in elevation was around 365 feet.
This
was a most pleasant hike with very little climbing, good trails,
great views and no bushwhacking; such as we experienced on our recent
Mingus slope hike.
The
GPS track of this hike is shown on the included map (below).
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